Leeds United youngster ascends beyond U21 status to be considered first teamer by Jesse Marsch

Still only 19, Hjelde was able to boast something many of his peers cannot before he even walked through the door at Elland Road in August 2021.

The season prior to his big move from Glasgow Celtic, Hjelde experienced the rigours of senior football in the Scottish Premiership via a loan spell with Ross County.

More seasoned operators in the Staggies' dressing room were impressed by the Norwegian's old head on young shoulders demeanour and he departed Victoria Park with rave reviews.

A first season with Leeds yielded just two Premier League appearances and despite the gulf in quality and demands that exists between the Under 21s football he was playing regularly and the real thing, Hjelde did not look out of place.

The same could be said on Wednesday night, when Marsch threw him in amongst the Wolves at Molineux.

"One of the challenges is between the 21s and the Prem, is that the gap is pretty big, right?" said the head coach.

"Even when you see our team defend set-pieces against Wolves versus when they're in the 21s, those physical parts in the mentality moments of what the Premier League is, is night and day compared to the 21s.

"The tactical part, the technical part, their ability to fit into the speed of play, they can manage that fairly well, but it's often the power at which the game is played at the highest level and that is the biggest challenge."

Marsch admits a preference for blooding youngsters because they have so rarely let him down and the Carabao Cup presented an opportunity to do so again, until Leeds' exit. The Wolves game brought debuts for Mateo Joseph, Sonny Perkins and Darko Gyabi, all of whom have caught the eye with the 21s and made such good starts to their seasons that Marsch has found himself talking about them on a frequent basis.

Hjelde has perhaps gone under the radar a little, due in part to his position so far from where the goals are flying in and in part to an appendectomy that ruled him out for weeks, but he is not only in the conversation when it comes to young talent Marsch is excited about, he's in the first team conversation.

"When they've shown that they're making progress, you give them belief in themselves and in the process typically they overachieve and then once they overachieve and get the taste of success, that can really motivate them to get even better," he said.

"I mean, we can use plenty of examples even since I've been here - the number one right now is Cree [Summerville] but I think of Mateo, Sonny and Darko and you can throw Leo there. I mean Leo's played in Prem matches before but Leo, for me specifically second half [at Wolves] I thought he really grew into the game and played really well. But I consider him more almost part of the first team because he's been around it a little bit more and is a little bit more mature from that perspective.

"All four of those guys have big potential and then once you add in Cree, Willy [Gnonto], Joffy [Gelhardt] and Sam [Greenwood] and then you start to feel like we've got a real core of young players that have a chance to be quite good."